Swapped
by celticvampriss
Summary: Rivetra Week AU: Body swap AU.


**A/N: I'm a sucker for tropes. Especially the body swap. So I decided to give this a try. **

Swapped

Petra finished the last of her chores for the day with time to spare. She had worked hard, hoping to get it done so she might enjoy the rest of her night. The heat had left a layer of sweat over her forehead, but she wiped it with a damp cloth. Still, a bath would be necessary before she could truly relax.

Fingers clasped behind her back, Petra headed for the Captain's office. She needed to be officially dismissed and, she conceded silently, it was a part of her day that she looked forward to. Despite the discomfort the heat and work had put on her, there was a bounce in her step as she neared her destination. However, she was distracted by the sound of the Captain's voice from a room that was not his office. Petra halted and moved in the direction of the large-over crowded room claimed by Hanji.

"You brought me here to look at some cheap vase?" Levi asked. From the crack in the door, he looked particularly irritated. The line of his mouth more prominently bent than usual, when in relation to Hanji. Petra put her fingers over her lips to hide the smile, but then made her presence known before more could be said.

She tapped her knuckles on the door lightly and pushed it open.

Levi's eyes fell on her briefly before back on Hanji. "What do you want?"

"I was just finished with my duties for the day—"

"Very well. You can go." Levi didn't spare Petra a look, but just waited with arms crossed and posture rigid.

Petra stepped further into the room, instead. "What did you find, Hanji?"

"It's a stupid old relic." Levi sighed.

Hanji, who had been too busy observing the find with a magnifying glass while consulting the book splayed open across fidgety arms to add to the conversation, finally looked up. "Petra. I dug this out of a pile earlier today. One of the few in-tact pieces we've managed to retrieve from outside—"

"Tch, we're not explorers. We're not supposed to be bringing more shit back with us when we leave."

Hanji beamed. "I wasn't exploring. I found it and brought it back. With a few other things, but that's hardly important. What _is_ interesting is that I have actually found information on these particular pictures." The excitement was contagious. Petra was compelled toward the artifact, despite the questionable legality something like that could present.

"I don't have the time for this. Next time you find junk call someone else." He may have been annoyed, but Petra noticed that he hadn't left yet. She smiled to herself, she shared many private moments noticing his subtleties.

Petra bent her head to better appreciate the decorations painted into the side of the vase. It was heavily stylized, she couldn't decipher most of it, but it was pretty. It looked ordinary otherwise, two curved handles with a broad rounded base and a curved top. "What did you find out?" Petra asked, delighting Hanji with her interest.

Levi growled in annoyance.

Hanji held up the book. "It looks like the original creators believed the markings would grant this object magical properties. I assume it's some archaic religious significance and I haven't been able to determine _what_ those properties are, however, it's fascinating all the same. This belief in magic as an explanation for things better suited to scientific analysis. It's incredible—"

Petra lifted her finger to touch the glossy finish and the whole vase shifted off the table. With a yelp, Petra caught the handle, just as Levi caught the other. She felt a tingle in her fingertips as, together, they set it back on the table safely. Hanji blew out a breath of relief before diving right back into research. Petra slid her hand away and stared at her fingers, rubbing the tops together.

"Did you feel—?"

Levi wasn't paying Petra any attention. He was once again barking at Hanji. "Get this thing out of here before morning. All I need is some cadet getting a look at this and asking the wrong questions. That book too. I don't know how you find this shit, but keep it out of sight."

Hanji waved a hand dismissively at him. Levi turned on his heel, stopping at the door and waiting for Petra. She was still looking at her hand when his clipped tone was directed at her instead.

"I don't suggest staying in here, Ral."

Petra smiled, following him and waving goodbye to Hanji. In the hall, Levi shut the door a bit harder than was necessary. Petra tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Well, sir, if there's nothing else in particular you need today, I really could use a shower."

His eyes moved smoothly to her face, though his head didn't move with his gaze. "I already said you can go."

"Thank you, sir. Have a pleasant evening."

"Just go. You smell like sweat and dirt."

Petra chuckled, drawing another look from him and then left to her room. By the time the bath was drawn, her clothes removed, and her hair brushed out, she had forgotten all about the vase.

It was just starting to get dark, she could see from her washroom window. The steam rising from the tub called to her as she slipped into the water. The sconces on the wall cast the washroom in a flickering glow from the small breeze drifting through the opening in the window. Petra wrapped her hair in a towel to keep it from getting wet then sunk the rest of the way into the water. She let out the faintest sigh and then closed her eyes. She hadn't been that tired, but she'd slipped into unconsciousness shortly after sitting down. Her eyes fluttered open a few minutes later.

Petra felt the hard floor beneath her cheek as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. One of her lights must have blown out, because there was only one small flame for her to see. She sat up, confused that she'd ended up on the floor and then she realized that she wasn't in her washroom either. Something tickled her eyes and she swatted it absently, too focused on her unfamiliar surroundings.

She felt a bed behind her and she used it to push herself off the floor. Her shoulders were still bare, but she was wearing her uniform pants. Though, the harness and boots were gone. Petra shifted her shoulders, but the movement was stiff and her muscles were tense. So much for a relaxing bath. She swatted the tickle from her eyes again.

Fidgeting was impossible, every movement felt too controlled, too rigid, yet all she wanted to do was shake this unease from her body. Speaking of, she looked down.

Her hands came up and fondled the air where her chest used to be. She…they _used_ to…

The cry of alarm startled her. It didn't sound like her and when she gasped the sound was low, masculine, and definitely not hers. She started breathing faster to match the pace of her reeling thoughts. That tickle was irritating her eye again and she reached up to pinch the end of a loose black strand of hair. Black? She tugged and it hurt.

"Oh no." The sound of her voice when she spoke made her shiver, even through different ears and with the complete wrong inflection, she recognized the pitch. A mirror rested above the dresser to her right. She slid her feet along the floor, afraid to move and not entirely sure she could even manage it without falling. Her balance was too centered. She didn't look until she could see herself fully and when she opened her pinched shut eyes, her heart stopped.

Levi opened his eyes, his neck resting at an awkward angle. He sat up and was surprised to find a ripple of water followed his movement. Last thing he knew, he hadn't fully undressed. The water was starting to cool so it wasn't even a fresh bath. His head swayed on his shoulders and it was…heavier. He reached up and felt the towel wrapped—since when did he wrap his head in a towel?

Someone's idea of a joke, he mused. He must have passed out and they found him and stuck him in some strange washroom. He didn't recognize anything in it: the hand towels, the soaps on the sink, the combs and brushes. He used a comb, but why on earth would he need a brush? This was definitely someone else's washroom, which meant this was someone else's bath and his skin prickled. Gross.

Whoever had come into his private room to pull this off was going to be severely sorry later. Levi yanked the towel free and nearly jumped out of the tub when something hit the back of his neck. His hand, which was somehow sluggish in response, flew to the back of his head where his fingers were drowned in thick, soft hair.

_The fuck…_

He moved his arm and somehow managed to knock over the tray holding the soap and shampoo. Not only was this arm completely unresponsive, it wasn't even the right skin tone. He had always had fairly clean nails, but never long manicured nails on narrow dainty fingers. He followed the lines of the arm, which did not belong to him, and then he let it fall below the water again.

This didn't feel like a joke anymore. He stood up. His peripheral caught the swell of skin where his flat chest used to be and he hesitated. He looked down and found he couldn't see past what was undeniably female anatomy.

A door slammed outside the washroom, drawing his attention. Instinct had him on the defensive, even if he was completely disoriented and would probably lose if it came to a fight. He heard the quick, if awkward, steps of someone with a purpose and then the washroom door flew open and was slammed just as quickly.

He saw his own face—distorted by a horrified, twisted expression—and now nothing was making sense. His body threw its arms out, its back resting against the door as it panted for breath. The posture was all wrong, he never slouched like that. What was perhaps most disturbing of all, however, was that it was clearly wearing a dirty shirt. Wrinkled and miss-buttoned. His eyes, the ones that used to belong to him anyway, were impossibly wide when they finally noticed him standing there.

"C-captain?"

It was his voice, but it was not him speaking.

"Petra." He said, more to himself. He knew the moment she said 'captain' that it was her. He picked up one of those long strands still irritating his neck and, sure enough, it was that familiar shade of copper. He understood the situation in that second and yet he didn't understand. Because how in the fuck would something like this happen?

"Captain." She said again, forcing his voice into a higher pitch and making him wince. "I don't have any idea what's happening. I just woke up like this and then—"

Her jaw was hanging open, a look that didn't fit on his face, and her eyes traveled up and down his body. Which, was technically _her_ body.

Suddenly she was screaming. "Levi." In her hysteria, she used his given name without any semblance of her usual discipline.

She picked up a towel hanging from a rack and threw it at him. "Cover up, _please_. Oh my God. NOW." She hadn't given him the chance. The awkward way she moved slowed her down, but she reached him and started pulling on his arm to get him out of the tub. He stepped out, his foot catching on the side and nearly tripping them both. He corrected his stance but his balance was looser than he remembered. He didn't feel grounded and the muscles in this body were too flexible. Loose and awkward, there was no control, they were limbs that moved arbitrarily and without design.

He took the towel and wrapped it around his waist.

"_No_." She groaned, lips beginning to pout as she brought up a hand to her mouth. "The top." She whispered.

He looked down, remembering that there was more to cover up now, and pulled the towel higher. It felt wrong, like he would be hanging out the bottom since the towel only reached the top of his thighs.

She was calmer once he had covered up, but her cheeks were red and her shoulders sagged in a pose that just did not look right on him. Petra sat on the edge of the counter.

"What is happening?" She whined. With his voice. She needed to stop doing that.

"Your guess is as good as mine." He answered.

"We somehow switched bodies." Petra mused, working through the problem audibly. Levi crossed his arms and was halted by two shapely breasts, which made him drop them back to his sides. In truth, he was trying to listen to her, but he wasn't used to having a chest in his peripherals. His eyes kept dipping and then bouncing back.

"Okay. That much we know. We don't know how. Or why. Or how to switch back." She continued. "We need to figure out how first, I think. We can't figure out what we don't understand. Something recent, I'd guess over the last twenty-four hours would be the safest assumption for how this started and—"

"Hanji." He spit the name like venom.

"Hanji?" Petra held out her hands. "Right, that vase…you don't think it actually…?"

Levi once again attempted to cross his arms. He didn't know how, but Hanji was going to fix this. Fast.

Petra winced as Levi fumbled with the sleeves of her shirt. She had made him close his eyes so she could dress most of him, but that had gotten awkward fast. Parts of her were shoved or bumped against her face and hands, the texture of her skin completely foreign under someone else's fingertips. There was shouting. Cursing. Snapping from both sides. Finally, she had Levi dressed in her clothes. She surveyed him, turning up a frown at the way he carried her body. With a sigh, Petra went back to fixing the buttons of her own shirt that he insisted on straightening.

"I wasn't thinking about the buttons when I woke up in someone else's body. Okay?" She had grumbled, irritated because all she had wanted was a comfortable bath and now she had no idea when this night would end. "Stop being so fussy. You're not the one wearing it." She turned up her chin.

Petra followed him to her door and then hesitated. "Um, sir…maybe we should collaborate a bit before barging into the hallway. What if someone sees us?" She continued before he could comment unhelpfully. "You have to pretend to be me. Or it will throw them off. I'll do my best to do the same, but the less people that know the better and we already know we have to include Hanji."

"I don't anticipate talking to anyone." He said. Then he was striding out the door, his shoulder smacking the edge of the door frame. Petra shook her head and then swatted at the loose ends of hair. She had always thought he wore the style well, but to be wearing it herself was another story. She wasn't used to bangs that long, but that couldn't be tucked behind her ears—though she had definitely tried over and over out of habit—and it was driving her insane. Her fingers itched for a headband.

"No fucking way." Levi had ended that quickly, and she reluctantly agreed because Levi's body wearing a headband would definitely rouse suspicion.

They passed down the first corridor without incident. Hanji, if still awake—which was likely—would be on the first level of the castle. Petra's room was on the third. The first flight of stairs was difficult. They both clutched the wall as they shimmied down. It was a completely different body structure, muscles working from a memory that neither of them had. They had one last step to go when footsteps had them freezing in place.

Whistling, Auruo rounded the corner and was about to pass them by when he noticed Petra clutching the wall. That is, he saw Levi's body hugging the stone wearing a rather expressive look of alarm.

Auruo opened his mouth as his gaze moved to Levi, who was wearing Petra's body but with a flat look in her usually expressive eyes. He raised an eyebrow.

"What's, uh…what's…I'm sorry, but what am I looking at?"

Petra removed herself from the wall, tucking a finger into the collar of her shirt like she had seen the Captain do, and narrowing her eyes as best she could. "I'd say it was none of your business."

Auruo balked, ready to defend his question. Petra kept her lips straight, looking into his eyes directly from under the line of her bangs. She had seen the Captain enough times to picture what she would look like and she was pleased to see the proper reaction in Auruo.

He backed away, scratching the back of his head. When he was closer to Levi he leaned down and whispered, "What's up with the Captain?"

Petra wished Levi would stop scowling. Petra didn't scowl and it looked out of place.

Levi cleared his throat. "Fuck if I know." He had added extra notes to her voice, subconsciously trying to speak in a higher pitch to mimic hers. It was grating on everyone's ears and Levi even tried to chase it with a smile and head tilt that looked more like a grimace with a broken neck.

Petra slapped her forehead.

Auruo's mouth fell open as he side-eyed Levi. "Huh?"

Levi rolled his eyes, dropping the charade. "I said, 'fuck if I know,' now let's go Petra." He stopped, then corrected. "Captain. Damn it." He had grabbed Petra's arm and started leading her. To Auruo, he contorted Petra's face into the fiercest intimidation he could, "You don't speak of this to anyone." Unfortunately, the direct order coming from Petra's mouth only made Auruo scratch at his head again.

Once they were out of sight, Petra worked her wrist free. She crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip. "That was terrible. You were completely obvious."

Levi sighed. "I don't see the big deal, he'll forget about it tomorrow."

Petra pushed her fingers into her temple and massaged. "Okay. But, Captain, maybe try not to swear so much when you're pretending to be me."

Levi shrugged. "You swear, occasionally."

"And smile, for the love of the Walls, just _smile_." She huffed. "It's funny, but I seem to be doing a better job at being you than you are at being me." She looked away, rubbing the side of her arm with her free hand. "I thought…you know me better than you're acting. Right?"

"Don't cry using my face."

Petra stomped her boot. "You're…you're just…you're being difficult and infuriating on purpose. This is strange enough." Well, she _could_ make this real embarrassing for him. And she intended to.

Before he could reply she blew out a breath through her nose, squared her shoulders, and turned so that the ends of her hair flipped behind her head. She purposefully swayed her hips dramatically, popping it out when she was a good distance away so that she could rest her hand on it. "Come along, Petra." She sang in the sweetest voice she could muster using his deep tone.

Levi's face was pale, eyes livid. He hadn't meant to embarrass her. He had just wanted to get out of that situation as fast as possible. Thankfully, there was no one around to see the show she was putting on.

"I get it." He hissed, smacking her hand off her hip.

"Do you?" She cooed, lifting her fingers to graze under his chin. What the fuck? He shivered, repulsed that it was his own face making eyes at him.

"You made your point. You don't want me to retaliate." He warned.

Petra crossed her fingers behind her, arching her back like she still had a chest to embellish. She winked and then started skipping. _Skipping_.

Levi passed her, looking for an audience. He found a few cadets leaning against one of the benches and chatting. Perfect. He stalked up to them and held up a single finger. Petra halted mid skip. Levi made sure to smile, open his eyes fully, and when he turned back around he shoved that finger straight into his nose.

Petra screamed.

The cadets watched as the strange copper haired woman stomped her tiny feet up to them, only to smile as she began to dig around in her nose. They wore an unbalanced expression of horror and confusion.

"Stop that right now." Petra yelled.

Levi grinned, not even attempting to remove his finger.

Petra huffed and then grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked.

Levi winced, so much hair was being pulled to the root as she dragged him away from his audience. She shoved him hard toward the second flight of stairs they would need to descend before reaching Hanji and then followed wearing a rather convincing scowl.

"You think you've won, don't you." She whispered.

Levi looked over his shoulder, no longer wearing that shit-eating-grin but still smiling more than normal.

"I should prance around in my underwear, singing at the top of my lungs." She threatened.

Levi shrugged. "I would just do the same." He picked at the collar of her shirt. "Speaking of, this bra you picked out is extremely itchy."

"Don't look at it." She scolded, but he waited a beat before releasing the collar and blocking his view.

"Lace?"

Petra felt heat in her ears, her pulse beginning to race. "I told you not to look at it…" She twisted her fingers together. "I uh…yeah. It's lace. I didn't want to take a chance okay? If you happened to see it…I didn't want it to look…well…stop smiling at me like that. I'm not afraid to punch my own face."

Levi waited for her on the last step. He wasn't smiling anymore, though he was still amused. She hugged herself shyly and avoided eye contact. Like she had anything to be embarrassed about. From what little he'd managed to see, she had no cause for insecurity. Which…talking about it was only drawing his attention to the fact that the body he was currently wearing was, unfortunately, his type and therefore delivering mixed signals. His brain still registered feminine as desired but the fact that he was currently wearing it countered that with repulsion. He was getting a headache trying to keep up.

"Let's just get to Hanji." He said after a moment of awkward silence. They managed to climb the last few flights without incident and when they reached the busier ground floor were relieved to go unnoticed. Levi and Petra dashed inside Hanji's office when they were close enough, startling the brunette who had fallen asleep with a book for a blanket.

"What are you two doing back here?" Hanji asked, yawning and stretching.

Levi stepped forward, seething. "We're back because you fucked up, four-eyes, and you've got to fix it."

"Me? What did I do?" Hanji blinked. "Wait a second here, Petra?"

Petra raised her hand timidly. "Hello, Hanji. I'm, uh, right here."

Hanji looked back and forth between them for several minutes.

Several

Long

Minutes.

Finally, Hanji pointed at them. "Are you two—"

"Yes." They said together.

"So you're in—"

"Yes." They responded again.

Hanji fidgeted. "And you're in—"

"Hanji." Levi barked. "We know. Just fix it."

Hanji's hands flew to the ponytail, ruffling up the hair to contain the rampage of thoughts. "This…but is this because of that vase? Do you know what this means? Neither do I, but it means _something_. I need to get a pencil…" A pencil was found. "My notebook. Where's my notebook? Come on, where is it? Aha!" The notebook was thrust into the air before Hanji was scribbling away in it.

"Stop taking notes and fix this." Levi ordered.

"Levi?" Hanji squinted, studying his eyes, which really belonged to Petra. "How do you feel? Is it strange being in a woman's body? How's the added weight of her breasts feel? Is it heavy? To you, I mean, since it would be unfamiliar." Levi looked ready to strangle Hanji right there.

Hanji scribbled away even though Levi hadn't answered a single question. Turning to Petra next, Hanji's eyes dipped straight toward Petra's crotch. "How's the—"

"Hanji." Levi slammed his hand on the table to add emphasis to his unfamiliar vocal cords. "Stop with the damn questions and _fix this. Now_."

Hanji nodded. "Uhuh. Okay. And precisely when did you notice the change?"

Petra raised her hand. "I had just slipped into a bath and then I passed out. When I woke up I was…well, not myself."

"I was in the middle of changing." Levi added.

Hanji ran the pencil down the length of one smooth cheek. "Changing clothes. Taking a bath. We need to pin down a catalyst. What, specifically, initiated the change? Were you thinking anything specific?"

"I don't remember. No." Levi said. Petra agreed, she couldn't recall.

"Hm. That's very interesting." Hanji began to pace. "As far as I can tell, the act of changing clothes offers no tangible alteration to your natural state that would induce such a sudden phenomenon. Assuming that the change is not arbitrary or under some sort of timer, then the only reasonable catalyst would be the bath." Hanji scribbled and talked. "Or water, I would assume."

"Water?" Petra confirmed.

"Yes, water." Hanji repeated. "Get wet. Switch consciousness. Which, if I may say, you have to let me study further—"

"Not a chance." Levi said. "Go get us some water." Hanji was still muttering when the door closed. Levi assumed it wouldn't take long, it's not like it would be hard to find a cup or bucket and fill it. Still, the silence that settled after Hanji's departure felt tangible.

He had been resisting the urge to scratch at the lace around his chest or shrug out of the thin straps. It was out of respect for Petra that he even bothered with restraint. It was ridiculous that she had put consideration into picking it out. Utterly pointless…

Petra sighed and fell into the nearest chair. Her body sagged and her eyes were lowered. She was so high spirited most of the time, but understandably, this had been a draining experience. "I'm sorry this had to happen to us, Captain."

"Why are you apologizing? It's Hanji's fault." He countered, carefully observing her. It was still disturbing, to see such an array of life in his features, but somehow, it was still easy to see her in his mind. In her proper body. To remember how the worry would crease her forehead or soften the brown of her eyes or how the ends of her hair would fall to shield her face from view.

"I'm not saying it's my fault." Petra corrected. "I'm saying that I am sorry it happened. I know that you're very busy and that this has to be a great inconvenience. And I do want to apologize for making you, uh, skip. It was uncalled for and I was angry."

He let out a breath. She owed him no apology and yet, as she finished talking, her eyes had landed squarely over him as if waiting for his own apology. Irritated, he decided to fix his gaze on the door to wait for Hanji. "Sorry for picking your nose."

Petra smiled, he knew without looking. "Thank you, sir. Hopefully those cadets won't remember."

He doubted that very much. Still, he said nothing else as they waited. Hanji returned a few minutes later with some water in a cup. The notebook was already out and ready for scribbled notes, but Levi wasn't going to wait for testing. Hanji withheld the water.

"I want to measure how much it takes before—"

"Hanji, you have two seconds to give me that water." Levi growled, which, using Petra's voice was distorted in severity.

Hanji pouted, not happy to be losing the chance for an experiment but, in compliance with the command, promptly dumped the cup from high above Levi's head.

For a few seconds, he felt nothing but the wet clumping Petra's thick hair and weighing his head down further. Then his eyes closed and Hanji realized too late that he probably should have been sitting down, because he collapsed backward knocking into stacks of Hanji's mess and smacking the back of his head on the table.

Petra fell backward into the chair at the same time and when she opened her eyes again she was on the floor.

"Petra?" Hanji was standing next to her, a notebook in hand. "Petra Ral?"

Petra felt the tips of long hair grazing her cheek and happiness nearly overwhelmed the dull throbbing in the back of her head. "It worked." She threw her arms around Hanji's neck and then stood up quickly. Her balance had returned. She rolled her shoulders and arched her back, caressing herself with her fingers as she marveled at the feel of her own skin again.

Levi had opened his eyes and sat up in the chair, but he didn't jump with the same excitement. He flexed his fingers, rotated his shoulder, just to get the sense of himself back. Everything was responsive and fluid. There was no hair to tickle the back of his neck and when he set his hands flat onto his chest he hit nothing but solid muscle. No squishy lumps to distract his peripheral vision. He almost didn't care that he was wearing a dirty shirt.

"Levi?" Petra had walked over to him, her smile radiant as she disregarded propriety to use his first name again. "How do you feel? I feel amazing. I never appreciated how it felt to be me before, but I'm glad that I'm back in my own body. Yours was…" She blushed, catching herself, "I mean, I won't comment. We should probably not speak of this again…"

Hanji's voice suddenly overpowered everything in the room. Hanji's eyes were on the vase, hunger and something primal glinting through wild eyes. "This…I could potentially…" pure emotion made the words tremble, "I could potentially swap bodies with a titan!" The drool was a little unbecoming, but any further plans to body swap with a titan were stalled when Levi hit the vase from Hanji's hands. It hit the table, clanging violently, but didn't break, unfortunately.

"You have terrible ideas." He scolded, but he refused to touch that vase again. He was taking no chances. At any rate, he was exhausted. Petra seemed drained and would probably need a bandage for the wound on her head. Levi left Hanji with orders to destroy the vase or he would turn Hanji in for all the illegal shit, apparently, hidden around the mess Hanji called an office. Which, yes, was a bit childish of him but he was holding a grudge over that vase for putting him through the last few hours.

Outside Hanji's office once again, they hesitated. Petra pushed at a strand of her hair, "All I had wanted was a bath and sleep." She smiled sweetly. "Now, I don't know why but I'm starving."

"Kitchens are closed." He said. It was difficult now, to keep his eyes off her. The heightened awareness was most definitely result of their ordeal, because he had never had a problem keeping his thoughts and gaze neutral before this.

"I know. But I'm sure if I clean up I can make myself something small…" She lifted her eyes, catching him staring. "Are you hungry at all, Captain? I could make you some tea as well. Tea sounds really nice right now."

He should have said no. He should have turned her obvious offer down and went straight to bed.

"Alright." He said, making her grin wider. He followed her to the kitchen, keeping his pace deliberately slower. When they arrived he started to help her, but she insisted that he sit and when she started to use her hands to push him he hastened to concede. Touching was…not okay at the moment.

Petra moved with efficiency and they didn't talk until she had set two cups of tea on the table with some bread warmed in the oven. They were on opposite sides of the table and conversation was kept light and cordial. Neither of them mentioned the undercurrent of tension and it was beginning to look like not talking about what had happened would be worse than talking.

A few times she had blushed, almost randomly, and averted her eyes. Agreeing to eat and drink tea, together, was not the wisest idea. However they finished and Petra began to clean up, including drying out the pot she used to boil the water so she could hang it back in its place.

Levi considered leaving. He should have left.

Instead he helped. He picked up the plates she couldn't carry and they met at the sink, both of them reaching forward and drawing back, careful not to accidentally touch. After a second, Levi motioned for her to proceed first and Petra moved in to set down the dishes and then stepped back quickly so he could set down his own.

The question was who was going to start washing them? They anticipated the other doing it, so they had both not moved for several minutes. Petra finally swallowed, and Levi could see the change in her eyes that indicated her resolve.

"Sir. This…I don't want anything to be different." She said. "Maybe we should…talk about it. Or address this somehow. Since it's obviously making things…awkward."

He shifted, hesitant to comply because turning around and leaving was another good option. But he agreed anyway.

"Here, I'll start on the dishes quickly first." She edged in to turn on the water and grabbed the dishcloth and started to wet it before adding the soap. As the water cascaded over her hands she felt the tug of sleep against her eyes.

They exchanged a look briefly, horrified.

"Not again—"

They both fell to the ground unconscious.


End file.
